The 3 Jewels of Buddhism

Buddha, Dharma, Sangha

the teacher, the teachings, the community

“You alone are the author of your future—experience teaches you that. Your behavior is not an unchangeable law of nature.  At every moment, you have the opportunity to change—to alter your thoughts, your speech, your actions. If you train yourself to be mindful of what you do, and ask yourself whether it’s likely to lead to positive results or negative, you’ll be guiding yourself in the right direction.” ~ Bhante Gunaratana

With just a few days left of our challenge, our thoughts may be turning to the big “what next?” question.  How will I keep this daily practice of Yoga alive within me?!

Buddhism offers us a framework for integrating, known as the 3 Jewels, or 3 refuges:

Buddha

Each one of us has the potential to wake up from the dream of separation.  The word, “Buddha” translates to “awakened one”,  and the invitation of this jewel is to remember that awakening is our essential nature.

Waking up from the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and

from the fears that limit us.

We each have the potential to be free from suffering in this moment, here and now,

even though it can be hard, and situations will challenge us.

Anyone, from Mother Thesesa to Hitler, …..anyone can wake up.

And it’s not a simple meritocracy.

Being in full alignment; thoughts, words and actions, is ideal for setting up all the conditions in which waking up occurs., but so much more is involved.   Just because you do good in the world, doesn’t mean you will wake up or realise yourself.

Yoga reminds us to close our eyes. Look inside. Everyday. For as long as you can.

This will help connect you to your Buddha-nature.

Dharma

Dharma is the path, or the teachings of Buddhism.

The sacred and ancient practice of Yoga, offers us many tools, many scriptures, many masters, many philosophies to help keep us on the path of going deeper within.

Ancient scriptures and modern books share with us the essential teachings of the wisdom traditions: be here now, be love, forgive, allow, surrender, let go, this too shall pass, freedom is taking full responsibility for yourself in this moment, and so on…

Yoga offers us the 8 limbs to freedom – the Ashtanga Yoga system , which includes the yamas and niyamas, asana, prananyam, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana and Samadhi. We can model our lifestyles on these points.

We can read and immerse ourselves in dharma books or books by contemporary teachers like Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, the Dalai Lama….

We can spend time with living Masters and teachers.

You will find a lot of repetition on this path. Repetition is said to be the mother of all teachers. Even after a decade of devoted yoga practice, I am still amazed how the simple reminder from a yoga teacher to breathe in any given moment, can take me so deep.

Sadhana,  the practice, is always there for you to take you home to your true nature.  If you miss a day, a week, a month – no worries!  Your practice is always available and ready for you when your are.

Sangha

The Sangha is the community of truth seekers. That means all of you.

People need people.  We are social creatures and social learners.

People of all ages and backgrounds are coming to Yoga these days, all wanting more happiness, more freedom and joy.

To really help us rocket forth on our journeys, it helps to surround ourselves with people who are also working on themselves to awaken.

At the end of the day,  we actually all have a lot more in common that not – The first noble truth of Buddhism – all beings suffer.

We are united in our suffering and we are united in our desire to be happy and free.

Progress on the Path

What does it mean to be “Good” at Yoga?

We are all works in progress, still in progress.

Everyone can practice Yoga and everyone can make progress on the path.

Our progress in Yoga, has less to do with opening our hips, and more to do with opening our hearts.

In Modern Yoga, many students come to the practice hoping to achieve a shape, or perfect their headstand, or master an arm balance.  Our culture often tells us that success is marked by these outer acheivements

In fact, some of the most remarkable changes that Yoga offers are often invisible, unacknowelged and far more ordinary and important, such as greater kindness, more respect, more compassion and forgiveness, strengthening of presence and awareness. 

Instead of how many hours did I practice, or what did I physically achieve, ask yourself, how am I living Yoga today?

Today I invite you to take 5 minutes and mediate / journal on these questions:

• Am I making progress on the path? 
• What does that look like? How did I know if I’m making progress on the path? 
• Have I or has life evolved since starting this challenge? How? What are the side-effects of my daily practice?
  

How do you know that you’ve been making progress?

Please Comment Below:

Ask yourself the following questions: Do I feel…

Transformed, More aligned, Refreshed, Invigorated, Relaxed, Calmer, Softer, Kinder, More warm, Brighter, More spacious, Lighter, More slowed down, More connected to the self, More creative, More embodied, Less stressed, A more clear mind, Strength to overcome new challenges, More Resilience and ease to bounce back to joy after a set-back,  A heightened sense of flexibility, both in the body and in the mind

“Instead of measuring success in practicing a yoga posture by how far we go, we can ask how present we are in each moment. How aware are we of the movement of our breath, the sensations in our body, and the thoughts that pass through us? Instead of judging the correctness of a yoga posture by how we look, we can inquire what positioning makes us feel most integrated and honours rather than injures our unique physical body. If we are ill or emotionally overwhelmed, how skillfully can we make this challenge grist for the mill? Instead of, “How many hours did I spend meditating today, ” we can ask, “How did I live my practice in every moment of the day?” Something is tragically missing in our spiritual practice if through our most diligent efforts we manage to become a perfect yoga posture, rather than a person”. – Donna Farhi

Finding Flow: The Path of Happiness

the balance between effort & surrender

Flowing through our lives with ease and grace, requires a balance between effort, showing up to our practice and discipline and surrendering to what is and how that can unfold.  This is the balance between practice & non-attachment, or allowing the moment to be as it is.

When we’re in flow, we drop out of the thinking, judging, comparing, rational mind and tap into a timeless state of simple be-ingness, of flow.

“Flow is the process of achieving happiness through control over one’s inner life. The optimal state of inner experience is order in consciousness. This happens when we focus our attention (psychic energy) on realistic goals and when our skills match the challenges we face”. – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

When we feel out of flow, we have a choice:  We can struggle against the current, we can resist, we can fight or flight our way into a temporary shortcut.  Or we can use those obstacles as fuel,  to show up to the element of fire, the practice of discipline, the fires of transformation and purification. 

A balanced practice of Yoga contains equal measures of Abhyasa, effort / practice,  and vairagya, non-attachment. We can compare our Yoga practice to the wings of a bird.  We need equal parts of abhyasa and vairagya, effort and surrender, to keep the bird flying free. 

We need persistent effort to know ourselves, to evolve and harness our challenges of life to realise the goal of freedom, and a corresponding level of surrender of how this can unfold in our external reality.

This is one of the reasons our school is named “Pure Flow Yoga” – to serve as a reminder: When you’re not in flow, the recipe is to purify – Fire! : find your discipline, your focus, your willingness to transform yourself so you can get back to that sweet element of water, of connection, fluidity, and adaptability that are the nature of flow.

Flow, the Secret of Happiness

Today I feel inspired to share 2 powerful and excellent talk to broaden your flow:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi asks, “What makes a life worth living?” Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of “flow.”

Why Meditate?! 

Why do we bother spending time alone with ourselves?!

Most of us have tried meditation, or else we’ve heard many reasons about why we should try it, and it’s potential benefits for our mental health and well-being.

Meditation allows us to have a complete, simple and direct relationship with who we are. The power of introspection allows us to cultivate our witness, strengthening our ability to see things as they are, without masking or veiling our ego’s fear and hopes, preferences, likes and dislikes.

More than something we effort to do, the practice of mediation is more about subtracting the things we do so that we can come into a place of stillness.  Meditation is a uninterrupted flow of concentration.

People have been using mediation for thousands of years, as a way to transcend the suffering borne from the ceaselessly thinking monkey mind and emotional upsets, to move more into peace, clarity and present moment awareness.

There are seemingly infinite meditation techniques and traditions, from simply focusing on the breath, to prayer, mantra chanting, self-inquiry (who am I?), Vipassana, metta, chakra, yantra, mandala … Essentially all techniques serve the singular purpose of cultivating awareness, mindfulness and expanded consciousness

The gifts of meditation are many.  Whether you come to meditation seeking relief from painful, fearful thoughts,for stress reduction or other health benefits, or simply for greater self-understanding, intuitive powers and increased concentration power, a regular practice of mediation can inspire profound physical, emotional, mental and spiritual benefits.

Science and direct experience share with us countless benefits of regular meditation:  From neuroplasticity ,to a more alert and relaxed brain, to increased resilence and life-span,

Neuroscientist Sara Lazar’s amazing brain scans show meditation can actually change the size of key regions of our brain, improving our memory and making us more empathetic, compassionate, and resilient under stress

“The human body and mind are veritable battlegrounds for the war between wisdom and the conscious delusive force manifesting as vidya, ignorance. Every spiritual aspirant, aiming to establish within himself the rule of King Soul, must defeat the rebels, King Ego and his powerful allies”.  – (Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, p.24)

Gifts of Meditation

Meditation reduces stress, improves focus and concentration, encourages a more balanced and healthy lifestyle, increases Self-Awareness. increases happiness and longevity.  Meditation allows us to have a complete, simple and direct relationship with who we are:

The power of introspection allows us to cultivate our witness, strengthening our ability to see things as they are, without masking or veiling our ego’s fear and hopes, preferences, likes and dislikes. Seeing more clearly through our daily habits, our stories, our illusions, Maya, leads us to a life of wisdom, peace & equanimity.

Meditation leads to intuition, inner awareness of our true self and a state of peace and bliss. Meditation helps us focus the mind and keep it positive, helping us transcend fear, desire, longing, negative emotions and ever positive attachments.

Meditation opens the metaphorical 3^rd eye, or Ajna chakra, allowing us to see that the spiritual world and material world are not separate so that we can transcend the ego to concentrate on a broader awareness of the universe and one’s relation to it. It gives us the immediate knowledge that unites the individual soul, jiva atman, with the Supreme Soul, atman.

Meditation is a practice of finding balance between effort and surrender; balancing the will power to sustain concentration and detachment from distraction to remain in the heightened state of awareness, and the ability to relax, surrender and let go of all expectations and desires. There are many simple techniques for meditation to bring the mind into focus, returning it to stillness; Slow and steady Pranayama can always be engaged to refresh and revitalise the mind if it’s feeling tired, fatigued or unfocused.

Key Meditation Practice Points

• Be Consistent and Create a Habit
• Create a Sacred Space and/or Alter Space
• Time – Most ideal for practice is dawn and dusk, especially Brahmamuhurta between 3 – 6am when the atmosphere is most clean, charged and unruffled by the activities of the day
• Establish a comfortable sitting position
• Be mindful of the Breath
• Commit to the Present Moment; give up dwelling on the past or worrying about the future

Today I invite you to spend some time in meditation. 

Set your timer for a minimum of 5 minutes, sit upright with a nice long spine, eyes closed, bringing your awareness to the breath.  Spend some time noticing how you feel, tuning into the rhythm of the breath, and set an intention or say a prayer if you like.

What effects do you notice within yourself from even just 5 mins of meditation?

Who am I?

Know thyself: the Path of Self-Inquiry

“You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is, of the not-self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains . . .” – Ramana Maharishi

Once we’ve aligned our bodies through asana, and connected to the breath, we can bring our awareness into consciousness it’s self.

At this stage we understand that we are far more that just our bodies. We know that our body’s cells completely replace themselves every 7 years.  We know that the body we had at age 3 is a different body that when we are 73.  Our bodies, are more like the temple of our souls.

We know we are not just the breath, the air we breathe, the food we eat or the water we drink.. Our breath is moving through us without a conscious effort keeping us alive and in rhythm with the pulsation of all things in the universe.

As we slow down the breath, and begin to witness each thought  arising, existing, and falling away, we also begin to recognise that we are not our thoughts. Thoughts, feelings, and sensations are but fleeting moments to which we sometimes get attached or identified. 

When we let thoughts come and go without attaching our emotions and personal interpretation to them, we see that we are the witness of thoughts.  We are the like the clear blue sky, the thoughts are like the passing clouds.

So who are we? Who is the thinker of these thoughts? the perceiver of these sensations? The witness of these experiences?

This is the question that Ramana Maharishi went to the caves for 17 years to contemplate. Ramana Maharishi taught the practice of self-inquiry, as a method of following the “I” – thought in order to find it’s source.

It requires practice, effort and discipline to keep watching the thoughts and rest in our true nature, pure awareness itself.  It takes continual and consistent practice to overcome the strong habits of of the monkey mind that likes to jump from thought branch to thought branch, the mind that loves a good dose distraction, attachment, and identification.

“When we begin to see through the illusion we once took to be “me”, there is a simultaneous emergence of our true nature from the background, where it has been waiting patiently for us to sober up from the intoxication of seeking”. – Bob O’Hearn

Learn more about Ramana Maharishi & Self-Inquiry:

Pranayama: Art of Breathing

“For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.” ::Sanskrit Proverb

“When the Breather wanders, the mind is unsteady,

but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still”. – Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Pranayama is the extension of life force energy in the body, which supports health and longevity. Pranayama is the breathing practice of yoga and is the disciplining of our life force energy (prana), to remove blockages within our physical and energetic system, to clear illness and pain and ignite the spine to help regulate the nervous systems, so that we may achieve higher states of consciousness and awareness.

Understanding and controlling prana is the key to health mind/body balance. Conscious breath control is the key to realizing the benefits of asana as it brings us into a deeper connection with our inner self.

“Prana” is the subtle energy or life force that links matter and spirit, the astral and the physical. This vital energy or life force, located in the body’s nadis or energy channels, is in all life forms and is central to all yoga practices. Prana is a subtle force of energy carried in food, air, water, sunlight, the atmospheres we spend time in, the people we surround ourselves with, and it animates all form of matter.

“Ayama” means extension, expansion, to stretch, lengthen, prolong, regulate

Benefits of Pranayama – Pranayama helps reduce stress, quiets the mind, enhances concentration, memory and focus, and invigorates, heats and purifies the body.

Once we’ve connected with the breath, and started sending the breath towards any part of our bodies that’s holding tension or tightness,  we can turn our awareness towards awareness it self, to explore the deeper layers of consciousness,  our inner world, and who we really are.

Take a few moments now to breathe with me:

ABC’s of Yoga

Part 1: Attitude & Alignment 

Yoga chitta vritti nirodhah

Translation: Union or yoga arises when the fluctuations /waves of thoughts in the mind /consciousness cease.- From Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

The word yoga literally means “to yoke” or “union”. Beyond the practice of physical exercises, Yoga is the coming together of the individual self or consciousness, with the infinite universal consciousness or spirit. Yoga is a method of inquiry in to the nature of the mind, which emphasises practice and direct experience. 

The “goal” of yoga is to align to the universal consciousness in order to experience joy, freedom, FLOW and the stillness of full consciousness. Alignment, is related to mind and body, and refers to how various parts of us are integrated and interconnected.   The world is what think and believe it to be. It is subjective in essence – a projection of what we feel it is, based on past experiences and conditionings. What we see in others is what we have inside, like a mirror that is only projecting what is inside.

How we carry the body is how we carry the mind.

Attitude’s of Yoga

Willingness

Transformation is a reflection of our willingness to connect, to let go, to aspire to realise oneself. In other words, you get out what you put in. Use this challenge as an opportunity to go deeply into self-reflection so that you can empower yourself to recognise and begin shifting patterns that no longer serve and integrating ones that do.

Beginners Mind

According to Zen Buddhism, when our rice bowl is full, so to speak, there is no room for more. Thus in order to stay open and keep learning, we must continually empty our bowls, so to speak. See if you can meet each moment with a child-like sense of awe and wonder, in a spirit of openness, curiosity and playfulness as we explore and discover our personal patterns and edges.

Mindfulness

Be conscious and mindful in your thoughts, words and actions. Honour and listen to your body’s messages, using this as an opportunity to be mindful and discerning of the food and substances you consume, remembering that attitudes and behaviours ‘off the mat’ are just as important, as those on ‘on the mat’.

The Obstacle is the Way

Everything in life the presents can be seen as our teacher.  If we allow everything that presents to reflect to us how we can expand, grow and expand then we evolve.  How can you see the anger, the frustration, the impatience, the jealousy, the criticism, the rain, the bad meeting….as your teacher?

Physical Alignment

Shrtire Sukham Asanam

This is the prescription for how all poses should be practiced from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: Asana (posture, seated position, physical practice) is steady (strong; steady, stable, motionless) and comfortable (ease filled, happy, light, relaxed). Performed with willingness as well as acceptance. Firm as well as pleasant. Strong as well as relaxed. Maintained with effort as well as ease. Avoid pushing yourself or damaging the body.

There are many principles of alignment in yoga asana from many traditions. Here are just a few very basic ideas to keep in mind throughout your practice: 

Spine:

Yoga asana focuses on elongating the spine and increasing its range of motion. Because Yoga is ultimately of practice of working with subtle energies, maintaining alignment and length in the Spine is of the utmost importance in yoga asana alignment.

Hands /Feet: Our foundation:

We begin by setting up and aligning the foundation of the poses. Spread your hands / feet wide to create the most stable foundation possible to support our being, plant down through the 4 corners of your hands and feet, especially the big toes, then draw the energy in and up through the body though the domes or “nostrils” of the hands and feet. Mantra: Spread out. Plant Down. Draw in.

Soft Elbows / Knees:

There are no straight lines in nature and thus considering we are a creation of nature, this goes for our bodies as well. We can always maintain softness in these joints, ensuring that we are not hyper-extending, as this compromises the integrity of alignment in the pose. Teachers will often remind us to “micro-bend” or to have soft elbows and knees as this helps us to yield into the earth or whatever surface we are upon. Actively yielding to the Earth creates a rebound effect, elongating the body upwards into space.

Shoulders / Hips:

These are the gateways for the arms and legs to connect with the torso, and two common areas in which we commonly experience tension in the body. When the shoulders are hugging the ears, the body is being sent messages of stress! So think about relaxing and softening the shoulder, rolling your shoulders away from your ears creating as much space as possible in the neck. Keep the hips level, ensuring that their height is equalized.

Neutralize Pelvic tilt:

Think of the pelvis as a bowl filled with water. In standing and balancing positions, we want to keep the bowl level so that we are not tipping forward and hyper arching our low back, spilling the water out the front, or tilting it too far up, as is common in people with tight hips doing seated postures, spilling the water out the back. Make sure the hips and pelvis are level. If you find your low back rounding and your pelvis tipping up, then help yourself to a cushion or two or three so that you can be aligned and comfortable. We also want to make sure we neutralise the front to back placement of the hips so that it rests just atop the legs.

Neck and head:

In most active styles of yoga asana, the general principle is to keep the head and neck long and in line with the spine, bringing the chin back in if are heads are jutting forward. I know a body worker who tells his clients: “Take the head away from the computer!”.

Soft Face & Eyes:

Make sure your eyes are soft, your jaw is relaxed and soft, and your face is nice and released. Having a soft controlled gaze or focus, or Drishti, helps us to develop concentration, and focused consciousness to see the world as it is. When we are beginning our practice of yoga, we often lose balance by looking around and paying attention to all of the stimulation and distraction outside of ourselves. Focusing the attention inwards, by holding a soft gaze point either to our 3^rd eye or our hearts, encourage stability and inward looking.

We have the potential, using conscious intentions, thoughts and words, to co-create the life we want, to go beyond our limitations and fears, to surrender and open, to choose the type of person we want to be, to flow with the divine grace, to see the beauty in and all around us.  The key is to ALIGN ourselves so the flow can move through us.

Let go to Let FLOW:

The Journey is the Destination

Invoke Saraswati: Goddess of Wisdom, knowledge, Art, Communication & FLOW

:Om Aim Hrim Shrim Saraswati Devyai Namaha

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

― Bruce Lee

“Always be like a water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.” Santosh Kalwar

A few years ago, I worked for an outdoor education program, and we would take high school kids out on epic river rafting inner tube tours.   Inevitably in the journey, you would get caught by the rocks in the river.  Some kids would panic and jump out and pull themselves back to the flow. There were some kids who looked up and around and appreciated the magic and majestic beauty of their surroundings. There were those that stuck out their hands waiting for one of their friends to save the day. And in the end they all came to the remembrance that the flow is always there and available.

It’s really our journey back to the flow that determines the quality of our experience in the present moment. So when we talk about finding flow, of course we need to bring awareness to those big rocks in the River, to the obstacles in the way. That are actually harnessing the force to make us even more strong and powerful

When we are in Flow, we enter into the state of timelessness, of undivided presence, of openness and connection with this moment fully.  There’s no division between past and future, self and the rest of life.  In this beautiful state of being in harmony with the moment, the heart takes the lead and we drop out of the thinking and rational mind of planning, anxiety, self-conscious, judgement, comparing or critical thoughts. When we are in flow, life seems to present so many perfect coincidences and synchronicities. 

Going with the flow is responding to cues from the universe. When you go with the flow, you’re surfing Life force. It’s about wakeful trust and total collaboration with what’s showing up for you”.    – Danielle Laporte

Now, for some Alan Watts Wisdom:

I tap into flow most easily through the hula hoop. I spent many years, cultivating discipline,  going to workshops,  practicing drills, and learning how to speak the language of the hoop.   Now when I pick up the hoop, after a few minutes, I can tap into that place where I’m fully present and responding to the moment that presents. 

We’ve all experienced being in flow before: whether its been through Yoga  or through your work, running, cooking, or other activities. The more time we spend in flow, the more we cultivate and create the space for more FLOW.

Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you.     

Wayne Dyer

The Journey IS the Destination – Our current cultural paradigm teaches us to strive towards a future goal that’s always slightly out of reach, when in fact life is about NOW, this moment.

“The more in harmony you are with the flow of your own existence, the more magical life becomes”. – Adyashanti

How do you experience flow?  How do you find your way back to flow when you get caught in the rocks of life?

Let go to let flow beautiful one.

XOXO

Francie

I am Supported.

“When we seek for connection, we restore the world to wholeness. Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other.” – Margaret J. Wheatley

With support we can create far more than we can on our own. When you think you’re alone, you tell yourself a story of separation – you are isolated or you feel like a victim.  Feeling like this is the quickest path to depression.  When we feel depressed, there is a constriction that blocks the flow of Love through and for you.

When you feel the support that is all around you, you feel connection. And in truth, there are countless fields of visible and invisible energies that are always supporting you, from the elements, to your friends, to the ever-present inner guidance within.

So today I invite you into the remembrance that you are supported: Take a moment NOW, with your journal, or just in a seated meditation pose, and bring to mind all of the ways in which you are supported:

Think of your friends, the people you work with, your family, the people that you serve and feel into how you are supported everyday.  Think of where in your life you are sill needing support, so that you can call that in.

Say aloud, or write in your journal: I am not alone, I am fully supported. There’s help all around me that appears often in the most unpredictable and sometimes seemingly cosmic ways.  When I let in the support, life gets easier and more magic happens.

and remember, within this challenge and beyond, we are here to support you!

My Top 5 Favourite Poses

Give yourself 10-15 minutes now and try out these poses with me, in sequence or as you feel called. 

Put on a playlist, roll out your mat, light a candle and some incense,  lay out your altar, or even just a flower/something beautifult to feast your eyes upon, and spend 5 or 6 full breath cycles in each pose, and see how you feel after.

With the right support, these simple and accessible poses are available to all levels and bodies, .  Make sure you have some props around; a cushion or block to support you to completely relax into these shapes so you can go deep. 

Supta badokonasana – Reclined bound angle pose

This is one of my favourite poses to start and end of class with, and anytime I find myself in the horizontal.  This is a beautiful hip opener,  groin softener,  heart and chest opener  Energetically,  we are cultivating an energy of letting go, allowing, receiving, and surrendering  I like to practice this pose with a cushion or block underneath the back of my heart, and maybe even some blocks to support underneath my knees.

Hang out in this pose for a few minutes. Feel the support of the earth below you as it holds you, receives and transforms that which you are releasing, that which no longer serves you,  with each exhale.  Feel how nourishing it is to surrender to the knowing that you are supported.

Kapotasana – Pigeon Pose

Another beautiful grounding, and supported pose – PIgeon pose, and all it’s variations. is my favourite go-to Hip-Opener  I practice this pose every day.  Many of us hold a lot of tension in the hips – The hips represent our ability to move forward in the world with grace and ease.  In this pose, enjoy the yummy external rotation of the hips, stretch to the hip flexors,  release of tension in the hips and increasing range of motion in the legs.  Hips are also famously known in Yoga to be the place where we store stuck energy. It said that the cellular memory connected to grief and sadness holds in the hips. Go to your edge,  breathe there,  and enjoy the softening, opening,  surrendering and relaxing. 

This first pic shows the “sleeping swan”, forward fold variation of pigeon, and the second pic shows a more engaged heart opening “king pigeon” variation”.

Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing dog.

The classic resting pose. As Yoga teachers often remind students,   this can be a resting pose if you have the right alignment of attitude and body: Find the alignment of your hands – spread wide, shoulder distance apart, the alignment of the feet hip distance apart.  Let your knees have a soft bend as you lengthen the tailbone, bringing belly to spine, rolling the shoulders away from your ears.  Let there be an even weight between hands and feet and explore the openings possible as you breathe into the body and tune into where the body is tight. 

Play around with the concept of dynamic stillness – allowing each inhale to create more length in the spine and space in the body, and each exhale deepening and expanding.  Play around with 3-legged dog, lifting one leg at a time and opening the hip into scorpian tail.

3-Legged Dog

Scorpian or Fire-hydrant Pose

Wild Thing

Backbends are heart openers and energising poses.  Many Yogis would agree that this is one of their favourite poses.  It’s so fun, beautiful, strong, fierce, and open.  It’s just so energising and satisfying to stretch that whole front line of the body, the front of the thigh,  the side body and the throat.When I practice this pose I feel vibrant and alive. If ‘m fully warmed up and open in the spine, I’ll play with bringing this pose into a full wheel.  

Balasana – Child’s Pose

Forward folds are calming poses.  You can gift yourself this pose anytime throughout the practice, anytime you need a rest, anytime you wanna come back to the breath, anytime the mind gets lost in a labyrinth of thoughts.  Play with different variations: Knees together or knees wide, forehead or chin to the earth, arms lengthened forward, or walking to each side for a side stretch.  Play with the ams alongside the body, or your elbows rooted in the earth next to your shoulders with your hands in a prayer towards the sky.

Hope you enjoy your practice today!

Look forward to hearing from you all!

With Love & Support

Day 6: Simply Being

Yesterday I felt great.  So tapped into the meditation, flowing with the practices, feeling the bliss. 

Today….it’s a different story – I’m feeling challenged.  I didn’t sleep so well last night, I heard some disturbing news, and a bit of anxiety has creeped in about the future.

Some days we may be fully tapped into the flow, and other days our monkey minds have the reigns and we are in total distraction and discombobulation. 

No matter what emotion or sensation is present, the question is: Can I be with this feeling? Can I love this moment exactly as it is.

This moment is exactly as it is.

The only thing we can control is our relationship to this moment.

It is up to us whether we are in resistance and suffering, or if we are in acceptance, love and peace.

How are you?  Have you missed a day? Did you start late? Are you scrambling because you feel like maybe you aren’t quite doing it right? Or do you feel you fallen behind on the challenge, or  that other people are doing way better than you?  Is there a little voice in your mind it’s saying it’s OK  – you just wanted to check out what this program is without really involving yourself, kind of research?

Or maybe everything is going well.  You are showing up everyday, feeling empowered, on the path, elevated and uplifted.

Whatever arises, love that.

I LOVE this Rumi poem for reminding me to LOVE whatever arises. appreciating that even and especially those more challenging moments are actually gifts from the beyond, here to illuminate some aspect of life for me to integrate.  

The illusion of Doing + Having = Worthiness

I remember when my besty Nadia gave birth to her beautiful baby girl Kaya.  Even though all she was doing was crying and pooping we loved her so much. There was nothing she needed to do for us to love her.  We are simply that.

Your worthiness as an individual depends not on what you do or what you have.

You are already intrinsically worthy, loveable, no matter what.

Somewhere along the lines, we start getting different ideas – that somehow we need to do, be or have something in order to be worthy of love.  We go to school,  are raised by our families, in our cultures,  and we take on this idea that our worth is related to the grades we get, or the things that we achieve.

When we’re looking for validation of our worth from outside of ourselves,  its always conditional and never fully satisfying. The real challenge is to hold onto the remembrance that we are already whole, we are totally already worthy.

Self-love and self compassion are key ingredients to finding true freedom.  When we only love ourselves in relation to our achievments, this is a form of conditional love that can lead to suffering and/or disapointment in those moments when we fall short. 

Being & Loving what is: Simple, yes, Easy, no. 

For me personally, simply allowing each moment to arise without being in reaction to it can be challenging.  Finding full self-love and acceptance within myself and the moment as it is, is and has been one of the most challenging journeys I could ever imagine. 

With practice and patience, we start becoming more aware of when we are in resistance, in judgement, and in suffering.    From my experience, the best way to cultivate this awareness, this pre-requisite for transformation, the simplest path to the highest good,  is meditation – tuning into the inner stillness that’s behind all those busy or challenging thoughts, so that we can simply rest in being.

Antar Mouna – Inner Silence

Today I invite you to join me for this short 10 minute meditation technique known as “Antar Mouna”. Antar mouna is a Sanskrit term that means “inner silence.”  In this practice, we are transforming and controlling our thought processes through self-awareness and mindfulness, training ourselves to simply rest as the witness. Within this practice, we tune into the sounds and senses all around us in order to cultivate a deeper awareness, silence, stillness within.

Just being with you now,

Loving you exactly as you are,

Allowing this moment to be exactly as it is,

perfectly imperfect and complete,

XOXO

Francie

9 Tips for Smart Sequencing of your Yoga practice

“The ultimate language of yoga is expressed in doing yoga, a practice that transcends words as we open our lives to living more consciously through the infinite wisdom of the heart.”- Mark Stephens

I like to just “play” Yoga on my mat by really listening to what my body needs in that moment. If that’s what you are going to do, make sure your practice is balanced!

1) Warm up Come into the Ujjayi breath if you know it.

Find a comfortable seat and start by connecting to the breath. If you know the Ujayi breath, come into that for a few minutes.  After a few minutes of Pranayama & Meditation, you can chant Aum 3x to harmonise with all the elements present in the moment, to purify the mind, and to create a container for your practice space.

Warm up the spine and backs of the legs slowly with some nice gentle stretches – cat/cows, rag doll forward fold, gentle lunges are all good options.

2) Sun Salutations 

This can be used as a full practice in and of itself.  Sun salutations stretch the spine in all directions.  Both Surya Namaskar A and B are great to use as a foundation for flow, and a template to add on any other standing poses. Really follow the breath.

3) Standing and Balancing poses

Personally I like working with the Virabhadrasa or Warrior poses – Virabhadrasa I, II, III, Exalted Warrior – (you can type in these names to Google images to cue you memory. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) and Parsvokonasna (Extended Side Angle Pose) are also great as are the twisted variations of each of these poses. Give your hip flexors some attention with runner’s lunge/lizard or a low lunge with the arms arching up overhead for a nice heart opening sensation.

Here’s a short standing sequencing you may like to try:

4) Seated poses 

Include forward folds, twists and hip-openers. Always practice equally on the left and right sides. Include focus on building core-strength with strong, long Chaturangas and poses like Navasana (boat pose), forearm plank and side plank.

5) Backbends

When you’re properly warmed up, practice backbends – maybe just start with a Bridge pose. Locust, Bow and Camel are all great poses to build strength around the spine and to really open the chest. It is important to stay really engaged with your bandhas in all your backbends. Engage your belly to the spine to help make space in your lower back for deeper and safer back bending. Always practice a gentle forward fold to neutralise the spine after back bending.

6) End with inversions and other quieting poses.

Go upside down every day! Shoulder-stand, headstand and viparita karani are all fantastic practices. There are so many wonderful health benefits from inverting. Plus, it’s a great way to clear your head and get a new perspective on things. I always feel happier and better about life after a few minutes of hanging out upside down.

7) Savassana

One of the most important poses of the practice to help create muscle memory for all the openings you’ve just done.Let your mind and body relax and be receptive as you give your body the time to integrate all your beautiful work!

8) Sit & Meditate

Always include time in your practice just to BE – to breathe and to be present with yourself. Perhaps picking a gentle breath practice will help you, or meditation. Finding stillness in your practice will make you feel very nourished and peaceful, and this will then make you want to practice with more consistency and devotion! Just three minutes of conscious and deep breath an work wonders! Practicing meditation will benefit your asana practice, because it will help you build your powers of concentration. The inverse is true as well; practicing asana, especially with an intense focus on controlling prana through drishti, bandhas and breath, will make you a better meditator.

9) Give thanks!

An attitude of gratitude opens doors and hearts.  Gratitude is the #1 strategy for finding contentment – an easeful joy – a loving of what is. 

We have so much to be grateful for:  We can be grateful to ourselves for showing up to the practice.  We can be grateful for this sacred and ancient practice of Yoga that gives us a map to Freedom.  We can be grateful for the orange juice at breakfast, or for that little bit of sunshine on a snowy day.  The list is endless, and as part of this challenge we invite you two write 3 new gratitudes each day.

I am grateful that you’re here with me, helping to hold me accountable for this journey, and helping me to evolve into the productive, supported, loving, open person that I continually aspire to.

What are you grateful for today?

With Infinite Love & Endless Gratitude,

XOXO

Francie

Ganesha, Clear the Way

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

The practice of Yoga is a life-long journey of growth and evolution that’s filled with challenges, pitfalls, distractions, and excuses that prevent us from keeping on the path.

Even though we truly want to commit to our personal practice, and see ourselves make inner  progress, sometimes out of nowhere, we’ll hit a roadblock or a challenge that stops us in our tracks.  We’ve all been there.

Sometimes the obstacles we encounter are outside of ourselves.  More often we find that actually the main source of challenge and resistance is within ourselves. This is why it’s called a Practice.  Some days we find the flow, and other days we seem paralysed by challenge.

Simply becoming aware of the challenges is one of the best ways to begin overcoming them.

Typically, the Yogis invoke the power of Ganesha, the remover and placer of obstacles and the Lord of New Beginnings anytime, especially at the beginning of any journey, to help clear the way  of any obstacles that prevents our lives from flowing free.

Chant

Take a few moments NOW.

Close your Eyes.

Repeat the mantra – Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha –  9 x.  

When we sing or chant a mantra, we are singing not to any God or power outside of ourselves, but rather to the qualities and vibrations within ourselves.

After I started practice this mantra for a few days, I noticed some incredible shifts in my life…suddenly so much more flow.  But don’t take my word for it.

I invite you to try adding this mantra to your daily practice and simply NOTICE is there are any life shifts.

LISTEN:

Ganesha Mantra Yoga Music Playlist

We’ve created a special playlist for you. While you listen, feel free to just be or  to let it inspire your movement or singing practice.

Click the image below to listen!

May your path be clear and free of obstacles,

With Infinite Love & Endless Gratitude

XOXO

Francie

Obstacles on the Path

 How to get out of the Comfort Zone & Into the Magic

The Inner Obstacle Race – Remember, Yoga practice is like an obstacle race: many obstructions are purposely put on the way for us to pass through. They are there to make us understand and express our own capacities. We all have that strength, but we need to be challenged and tested in order to understand our own capacities. In fact, that is the natural law. If a river just flows easily, the water in the river does not express its power. But once you put an obstacle to the flow by constructing a dam, then you can see its strength in the form of tremendous electrical power. – Swami Satchidananda

Yoga is like Jedi training; It teaches that we can experience tremendous spiritual growth when we harness the force to overcome the sometimes overwhelming and reactive feeling of our nervous system’s“fight” or “flight”.  Cultivating and training ourselves to take a pause, to slow down the breath and activate the “relax and release” response, ultimately allows us to rest in more peace and contentment

At this stage of the journey,  the novelty of the commitment may be starting to to wear off.  Perhaps your enthusiasm is waning, and the reality of all of the other things that you’ve committed to, all of the things that you want to accomplish and follow through, with are suddenly more important than sticking to your simple commitment of practice.

It’s totally natural for distractions and excuses to begin emerging. Some days we just feel tired, our bodies may be aching, low energy, like we have too much going on, we feel too busy.  Some days we feel like we’re failing, that this is too hard, or full of self-doubt, restlessness, even boredom. You may even feel that you are doing this challenge because you think you should be doing it, instead of actually truly wanting to do it.  

We’ve all been there.

In those moments, we want to quit..

So how do you keep going?:

Out of the Comfort Zone and into the Magic

Within this challenge, the invitation is to…. challenge yourself beyond what feels safe, predictable, and comforting.  By definition, we are stretching ourselves beyond what is comfortable, or in some cases what is the path of least resistance.  Ideally, we are coming each day into connection with our growth “edge”. And this is where challenges presents.

In yoga we talk about playing our edge, this point at which it “hurts so good”.  The place where growth and expansion can occur . We do this to build more flexibility in the body, but also to create more flexibility in the mind.  Because as we all know, the magic lies just outside of the comfort zone.

I like to think about how when I was a kid, I could sleep anywhere; under the stairs on a bench, and a dirty hostel in India, and it all felt like a fun adventure. Nowadays if I stay somewhere like Bamboo Huts for example, that doesn’t have hot water showers, has jungle life in it, and I feel out of my comfort zone.  When I feel like this I suffer.

A common side effect of growing older, is that our comfort zones tend to get smaller and smaller, thus increasing the likelihood of suffering,  So if something doesn’t fit inside the small box of what we deem acceptable, we feel any range of emotions from angry to defeated.

The Yogic attitude is to see that the obstacles and challenges that present as our teachers in disguise, helping us to harness the force, so that we can express our full power.

The key to removing power from the obstacles is to first become aware of them.  When we are able to cultivate awareness and anticipate what tends to challenge us in advance, we can cultivate the skills to gain mastery over the challenges, so that we can persevere.

• Revisit and rehearse your WHY – Go back to Day 1 and revisit your intention.

The most important way to navigate the obstacles is to keep coming back to your WHY:  Keep revisiting your intention, your Sankalpa, to that powerful desire and resolve to change, to become a better human being,  to feel more empowered, open, peaceful, harmonious, joyful, to connect better with others, to awaken and be free.

• Allow yourself to be witnessed.  Let the group support you.

What makes this challenge so special and powerful is the network of support that we are tuning into to help fuel our journey on this path of practice to attain our goal.  It is up to you, to hold yourself accountable by sharing your intention and practices with the group.   the rewards of this are truly great.  If you truly want transformation within yourself, especially on those days when you just wanna give it all up, the key it connect, share and be witnessed.

• Prepare for those moments:

Stepping out of the comfort zone and taking risks, helps you grow.expand and evolve.  It pushes you to step out of the familiar and habitual, and into the unknown.  How you respond to life, the invitation to show up, the challenges that present,  determines your level of evolution and inner growth.

Journal the Journey – Write your top 10 excuses / distractions for not showing up/following through.  What does your highest self do when the challenges present?

May your day be filled with grace and ease,

With Infinite Love & Endless Gratitude

XOXO

Francie

Start with Why  / Tips for Tapas

3 Steps for Success for this 21 day Home Practice Challenge

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius

When it comes to making a promise to yourself, adopting a new habit, a big life change, or moving through transition, the process or the journey is as important as the destination – “The journey IS the destination”.  

Step 1 – Start with WHY?

Time to get clear and set your intentions.

When you are clear on the WHY of your promise to yourself, once you begin to show up for yourself and begin to track your follow-through progress, then the journey can begin to flow with more ease.  You tap more into the pure FLOW!  

So, What is the deeper FEELING behind what you want? Do you want to feel more

• Open
• Free
• Balanced
• Joyful
• At ease
• In peace
• Healthy and well
• Connected
• Relaxed
• Rejuvenated
• Recharged
• Present
• Empowered

If you want to commit to a daily yoga practice, perhaps it’s the feeling of presence or openness you want to invite into your life.  Or maybe you want to be fully free of suffering and think starting a Yoga practice could help with that. 🙂

Sankalpa – Resolve to Evolve

Set your timer, and take 5 minutes NOW with your journal – How do you want to feel?

Set your Intention – Get clear on what you really want.  Write point form or in sentences,  in as much details as possible, your Sankalapa, your resolution to evolve and integrate these qualities more into your life.  How do you want to feel?   

Be loving and compassionate with yourself.  if you’d like to set the intention to do a Home Practice every day, or 3 x a week, can you be flexible with that?  Maybe sometimes it’ll be in the morning before work, and sometimes it’ll be in the evening when you get home.  “Should” is could with shame in front . If we “should” ourselves,  this can inspire feelings of guilt and shame. Like if we were to resolve to wake up an hour early to practice before work, and then we don’t follow through,  

Ritualise it. This takes you and your commitment to the next level.. It can be simple – Light a candle, some incense, share some insightful words or prayer of gratitude. .Bring in the sacred.  Acknowledge the mystery..

Tip: Make sure your intentions and goals are “S.M.A.R.T” : Specific,  Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely

I love this TED TALK to help me remember my ‘WHY’:

Step 2 – Showing Up:

How to make a commitment to yourself 

In general, it’s easier to make promises to other people than it is for ourselves.  It tends to be easier to follow through with our word when we have a witness, to step up and follow through with our commitment when we feel responsible to others.  Making promises to ourselves is a different story.

From my experience, countless times I’ve promised myself to waken up yet an hour earlier to mediate more, and countless times i have pressed that snooze button, thinking I’ll start the next day instead.  Countless times I’ve promised to stop being so self-critical of my scatteredness and “inability” to follow through, and be more kind and compassionate towards myself.

Tapas, the fire of commitment, of self-discipline, of building fire and heat within,  is one of the 5 Niyamas, or ethical self-disciplines of Patanjali’s Classical Yoga System.  Tapas translates to heat, fire, purification, spiritual practice and transformation.  It is the practice of showing up, even when we really don’t want to, it is the practice of following through with the promises we make to ourselves about how we want to evolve, or simply how we want to BE in this world.

When we make a promise to ourselves and don’t keep it, then we send messages to ourselves that we are not so trustworthy, and we reinforce the idea that we can’t follow through, or achieve the transformation that we are looking for.

Why commit to yourself:

When we make a promise to ourselves to show up, and we do, it builds self-confidence, reminding us that we are capable and powerful. We remind ourselves of what we do want,  and that we are capable of achieving it!  Think of the last time you showed up and followed through with an intention.  How good did that feel?  Good!  Happy!  So here we are also developing the habit of showing up.

Choose your own Home Practice:

Define your “Big” (30 + mins) and your “Small” Practices (10 + mins) and write it in the Accountability Fun Sheet – (you can edit this later if you like!)  This can be Yoga asana practice, meditation, prananyam, or whatever else helps you find more FLOW in your life.

When you show up to your practice you mark it with a “Yay!”.  Other days you may mark a “Nay! and that’s okay.  We’re hear to encourage and support each other to do our best, and we simply celebrate the wins!

Step 3 –  Reflect & Connect

FOUNDATIONS OF FLOW

Journal the Journey & Gratitude – 5 minutes

Check in with yourself . Notice how you feel each day.    Are you feeling inspired? Are you making progress? How does it feel? How does it feel when you procrastinate? Can you be okay with that? 

Some days are easy and we stick to the plan, other days we feel downright challenged, restless and helpless to follow through.  Keeping track of our progress is a really helpful way to keep focused on the transformation.  Each day we’ll invite you to set your timer, write the date, and spend 5 minutes with your journal, just writing stream-of-conscious-how you feel,  or what is present for you

Share your Progress – Group Check-in 

Including others in our mission helps us to feel supported and motivated..  We are social animals.  We learn through and with each other.  It’s said that 20 % of our learning comes from social interactions.  Growing and learning together, sharing our intentions and action plans with others has the capacity  to increases the likelihood that we will actually follow-through with the positive life-changes we are intending.  Not only that, but your progress and willingness to keep showing up and sharing your journey, will inspire others to keep up with the challenge, especially in those moments when we lose interest, feel lazy, distracted or challenged.

Wishing you a beautiful and easeful start to this journey. 

If you have any questions or concerns – please feel to reach out to me on the FB Group  or francie@pureflow.yoga

Have a beautiful day and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow!

What’s NEXT?…

Tomorrow we look at the some classic obstacles on the path and how to work with them!

With Love & Support,

XOXO

Francie